Leonard Brooks
Unnamed father Jimmy Clark Rachel Moore |path = Serial Arsonist Budding Spree Killer |mo = Arson fire Varied |victims = 3 killed 1 attempted 11 victimless arsons |status=Incarcerated |actor=Rob Morrow David Bloom |appearance=Reignited }} "It's the thing inside me, strong in ways that nobody can see or comprehend. This dark undertow that I'm powerless to stop. I guess the fires were really controlling me." - Leonard Leonard Brooks is a serial arsonist-turned-budding spree killer who appears in the ninth season of . Background Brooks had a happy childhood until a few days after his ninth birthday, when his father died. After that, his mother, Jennifer Brooks, a burn ward nurse, and who never recovered the loss, started drinking and abusing him, usually in the basement of their house, where there was a furnace. She eventually adopted two foster children, Rachel Nelson and Jimmy Clark, the latter of whom took part in the abuse to keep Jennifer from abusing him too. At the age of twelve, Brooks started setting fires, his first being in a dumpster on 59th Street. In adulthood, now a frequent arsonist, Brooks was initially suspected of committing at least ten fires, though he was only convicted of the last one. He was caught because he realized someone was still in the building he had set on fire. He even ran back in to try and save her, suffering burns to his arm in the process, and administered CPR, but couldn't resuscitate her. In prison, he was interviewed by psychology student Eva Mason, an arsonist in her own right who became obsessed with him over time. After his release, he tried to keep his addiction to fire in check, but eventually started purposely harming people who had wronged him in the past, all for the purpose of exacting revenge against them. Biography Season Nine Reignited Having just been released from prison, Brooks becomes the prime suspect of an arson attack on the same building he had set on fire many years before since the M.O. fit his old one perfectly. The fire also kills a fireman. The perpetrator turns out to be Eva Mason, who had interviewed Brooks in prison and become obsessed with him. She confronts him when he comes home, having released gas into the apartment and removed the glass from a lightbulb so the gas will ignite when the lights are turned on. As she begins to flip the light switch, Brooks pulls away a rug from under her feet to knock her off her balance and then escapes by jumping out of a window. Meanwhile, Eva is trapped in the apartment and is killed when the gas explodes. In the end of the episode, Brooks moves into a new apartment. Where There's Smoke... After the events of the previous episode, Brooks begins targeting his mother and foster siblings and getting revenge on them for hurting him when he was a child. First he traps his mother in an elevator and ignites the roof, causing enormous heat inside and broiling her alive. The CSIs see him on security tapes and pursue him. He later kills his foster brother by poisoning his lunch sandwich, having taken a job at his usual deli, which when he washes it down with water causes a chemical reaction that burns him from within. The CSIs later examine footage and discover that Brooks was at the scene, disguised as a passer-by while watching his foster brother die. They later discover that Brooks is after his foster sister, Rachel and he intends to kill her. However, just as Brooks intends to do that, Flack and Mac both rush in and after a stand-off, Flack apprehends Brooks while Mac rescues Rachel. Brooks is later seen in his prison cell, now sporting a new haircut while reading a book. He then takes his reading glasses off and upon holding them to the sunlight, is able to burn a hole through the page of the book he's reading which creates a small flame before Brooks blows out the flame seconds later. Modus Operandi Brooks started his fires using a chemical compound of potassium permanganate and glycerin, which ignited a few seconds after being mixed. He used wax paper and dryer sheets as fuel, laying them out in neat rows in hallways to spread the fire. He also painted fire gel on the walls to spread the flames further and disabled the sprinkler system by cutting off its OS&Y valve. His intentional murders involved elaborate setups with fire accelerants and chemical reactions which would kill his victims slowly and painfully while he watched from nearby. Known Victims Arsons *Unspecified date: A fire in a dumpster on 59th Street *Unspecified year-1997: Nine presumably victimless fires. Named ones include: **1992: A building on Hudson Street **1993: A building on 8th Street **1994: A building at the corner of Thompson and Spring Street **February 16, 1995: A building on Prince Street Murders *April 17, 1997: Unnamed woman *2012 **October 4: Jennifer Brooks, a.k.a. "Rita Lowman" **October 5 ***Jimmy Clark ***Rachel Moore Quotes *''"How did that make you feel?"'' "Safe. Like nothing or nobody could hurt me. I made those flames dance, I was in control. But after that there was no going back. I was never gonna be scared again." -Leonard during an interview about his first fire. *"You think I chose to be like this?" - Leonard while being interviewed by Mac and Jo. Trivia *Leonard Brooks is played by actor Rob Morrow who is best known for his role as FBI Special Agent Don Eppes on Numbers. *In both his appearances on CSI: New York, Morrow was credited as a Special Guest Star. Appearances Category:Criminals Category:Serial Arsonists Category:CSI: New York Characters Category:Males Category:Psychopaths Category:Minor characters Category:Revenge Killers Category:Budding Spree Killers Category:Incarcerated